The amicus brief introduced Monday on behalf of the state of Washington also includes New York, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and the District of Columbia.

The attorneys general wrote the ban has affected their states' educational institutions, state medical institutions, and diminished tax revenues from students, tourists and business visitors.

"The states have already been harmed by this Executive Order and its shifting implementation by the federal government," the document reads. "This uncertainty was compounded by the actions of officials at the highest levels of the federal government, who vacillated over how to interpret and apply the Executive Order."